A Wedding and a Funeral
by twiniitowers
Summary: Eric and Donna's daughter is getting married to Jackie and Hyde's son. But there is a dark cloud looming over the horizon. E/D, J/H, plus original characters. Follows the history started in "Donna at 39". Please read and review. Thanks.
1. Eric Loved His Little Girl

_**A Wedding & a Funeral**_

**Follows the story of the history of _the __That '70s Show _characters**

**in** **_Donna at 39, Here Come the Brides, Great Expectations, Interwoven, and Forbidden Kiss, and It's Only_**

**_ Castles Burning*_**

**No copyright infringement intended and some of season 7 and NONE of 8 never happened.**

**Chapter 1**

**Eric Loved His Little Girl  
**

**Summer**

Eric loved his little girl.

It seemed like only yesterday that Eric and Donna took their adopted daughter Megan home from the hospital.

She was never supposed to make it. Being born to a drug addicted mother and father who was also a dealer,

the cards were stacked against her. The only hope came from her adopted father who due to his own cocaine

addiction, was selected to be in a program (The Greater St. Louis Area Recovery Child Bridge Program) that

would let addicts, who got their lives together, have a chance to adopt these special babies. In conjunction with

a solid mother Megan Lynne Forman could have a chance at a normal life. Granted, it was outside the societal

norm of living in a wheelchair, needing a hearing aid, and strong prescription glasses, but at least, Megan had

her mind, a sense of fun and adventure, but the love and support system of not only her immediate family, but

that of her parents best friends, Steven and Jackie Hyde as well. There was more drama thrown at the two

families then anyone should have to endure: abortions, divorces, separations, infant deaths, drug addictions,

betrayals, reunions that took longer, but in retrospect were part of the master plan, illegitimate children,

teenage rebellion, automobile accidents, and health scares.

It was here in the house he grew up in that middle-aged Eric sat at his desk looking over the simple wedding

invitations (before sending to Jackie for approval!) for his daughters autumn wedding to Jackie and Hyde's son,

Hunter as his coffee turned cold.

Hunter Hyde was an artist and sensitive (although, not in a milquetoast way) gentle soul, who didn't conceal his

emotions like his father was known to do, but had his common, Earthy sense (and who also liked to dress in

the same clothes) and like his mother was kind, yet was not bubbly and didn't care much for being a social

butterfly. If a child was a unique recipe of the ingredients of both parents, then Hunter was the right mix of

both. He loved Megan since they were teenagers and Megan had a strained, which was a too-polite way to

describe it, relationship with her mother over it. Would Jackie prefer a blue or lavender background? Eric figured

he better send both. The kids wanted the most simplest wedding possible, but Hunter relented on letting his

'poor mother' have some enjoyment with the decorations and reception planning. Eric thought Donna should be

here sitting by his side and helping him out, but Donna, ever the stubborn ox, meant what she said years ago,

and that she was done with their daughter. It broke Eric's heart, but it was better to love them both with every

ounce of his being then it would be to ultimately be drawn into a side. She said she would attend the wedding

and that was a small consolation, he supposed. Megan still lived at home in Point Place, Wisconsin, in the

revamped and handicapped accessible house that her Grandparents bought many years ago, and Hunter was

also still at home in Hyde and Jackie's quaint country cottage in Pennsylvania. Hyde noted the irony of their kids

generation when Forman was acting twitchy over his little girl growing up during one of the family holiday

get-togethers once. It was going back to a simpler time before they were even born, when families lived and

raised their families in the same house or houses on the same block. You stayed together and you didnt stray.

There was something comforting about that. Hyde wanted a real family for so long that, he couldn't push them

out the door. Hunter's twin sister Hannah did bolt when she left for college in the Pacific Northwest and made

her home there. She sent emails that and phone calls that were too infrequent for Jackie's taste. Their oldest

child Tiffany (whom Hyde adopted) was still living in her New York City apartment working for the Peacock

Network and telling her mother on more than one occasion that she was looking for Mr. Right and how

frustrating a quest that was. Hunter and Megan were undecided where they wanted to live, they both had jobs,

him doing decorating at the bakery while he went to art school, and Megan worked the phones at the doctors

office she used to go to and she also enjoyed making soaps to sell on Ebay.

Eric liked the Old English calligraphy script, but it wasn't a matter of life or death, if Jackie wanted another type

of font. He could've sent the _Star Wars_ themed font, just to see if he would have received a rambling phone call

from Jackie asking if he lost his mind? Eric wondered if Mark would come to the wedding? Mark was Mark

McAdam, the result of a coked-up one-night-stand with another drug addict, he wasn't aware of his sons

existence until a few years prior, where he naturally almost blew having any kind of relationship with him by

overanalyzing the situation instead of just accepting it for what it was. Mark was a former Army man, something

he knew that Red would have approved of. He was an auto mechanic who made his real home in Indianapolis.

They didn't see each other often, but when they did each visit was better than the one before it. Eric and Mark

liked to go to classic car shows together and that seemed to be what they could bond over. They did email, talk

on the phone, and Facebook regularly, but to Eric it wasn't the same as being there. After the newness wore off

and Megan didn't see Mark as a threat, she liked him, but it made Eric sad that they kind-of treated each other

as if they were acquaintances and not family. They were siblings.

There was something wrong about that.

Eric's phone nor IMs didn't go off and he sent those invitation suggestions to Jackie five minutes ago. Maybe, he

did a fantastic job, maybe, Jackie hated them and was by-passing his opinions entirely, or maybe, just maybe,

she was making love with her husband.

It's not that he and Donna didn't love each other, they did. But, it took Eric a very long time to admit this to

himself and no one else, not Hyde, certainly not Megan, not even any therapist, it was quite obvious, that

Donna and Eric Forman, were not the romantic soulmates that he thought they were back when he was just a

scrawny adolescent dreamer. He was there for her during every inch of her breast cancer scare, and she only

had to have a few lymph nodes removed, and did that bring them closer? No. It was not that she didn't want

Eric there, but Donna was tough, she was tough on her friends, her husband, and her child. She had unexplored

resentment issues that Eric tried to internally analyze where they came from. Was it due to her mother Midge

leaving their family unit? Just trying to be a young woman in the mid '70s where the mixed messages ran

amuck: From you can't have it all, to you can have it all, stay at home and have kids, work and dont have kids,

you don't have to have kids, who doesn't want kids? He was certain it could make any person cave in to all that

pressure.

If Megan and Hunter had a chance at succeeding in their relationship and transitioning from fiances to spouses,

to know how to make a marriage work, and how to actually be (gasp!) happy in it, they had better look to

Jackie and Hyde and _not_ Eric and Donna for their inspiration.

Eric sighed as he closed his laptop and decided it was best for everyone involved if he slept on the sofa once

more being surrounded by the glow of the plasma screen TV to keep him company.

His only daughter was getting married.

He couldn't wait.

_*I toyed with the idea of these characters in the future in __**Jackie at 55**,_ _which I didn't finish and wanted to go with _

_this storyline instead. _

**_Interwoven _**_was meant to have more chapters, but one of my reviewers said they liked how it ended and that's _

_when I fast-forwarded into_ **_Forbidden Kiss._**

**_It's Only Castles Burning_** _is still a work-in-progress._

Thank you for reading and reviewing.

It is always appreciated.


	2. Jackie Was Tired

**Chapter 2**

**Jackie Was Tired**

**Pennsylvania**

Jackie was tired.

She knew that Eric would probably be wanting a response ASAP over the wedding invitation styles that he sent

her, but he was just going to have to wait, because the youngest one of the group of six kids who were

friends, foes, lovers, haters, and everything else in-between, in the '70s was tired. All she wanted to do was to

partake in a hot bath and cuddle with her husband in bed. Jackie's tiredness was mixed with that of another

emotion, frustration. Not at the kids. She loved Megan as if she were her own daughter and Hunter was such a

wonderful son. She was frustrated at Donna. Her relationship with Megan was strained for _years_, it only

snowballed into Donna disowning (!) her, when she caught Megan and Hunter making love with one another,

Megan announcing her engagement, and coming to the breaking point of wishing her dead. It broke Jackie's

heart that Donna wanted absolutely nothing to do with her daughter. Jackie's tea was cold, and all that was

left of the banana bread were a few crumbs on her delicate white china.

She wanted to know when did they all become their parents ages?

It wasn't about getting older, Jackie certainly didn't look her age, (thanks to great genes and a ridiculously

expensive skin care regime from France), it was about what kind of world would they be leaving the kids?

Weddings were supposed to be a happy time. Hunter and Megan deserved all of the happiness in the world.

Jackie looked at her desk calendar, the next Saturday had a big red circle around it in felt tip Sharpie. Megan

was going to come to Pennsylvania (because she told Jackie, while crying on the phone, that she couldn't do it

in Point Place) to try on wedding dresses. She couldn't risk what her mother would do, or what she wouldn't do.

Megan didn't have to work on that particular Saturday so it was a perfect time, except Jackie thought, isn't a

mother supposed to help her daughter pick out her wedding dress?

Jackie reached for her phone twice, and twice she put it down. Steven wasn't home and he'd tell her to keep

doing what she had been fighting with for the longest time.

_Don't get involved._

Not getting involved was easy, what was difficult, was trying to keep neutral when you knew your friend was

being a world-class dillhole.

Megan should be trying on wedding dresses with Donna. It's not that Jackie didnt want to spend time with her,

she loved her very much, and of course, she would help her with decide on the perfect dress for her wedding,

but this feud was going on for far too long. It wasn't like when Eric had to face up to almost killing Hyde in a

drug induced rage, this was more simpler, more organic in terms. Megan was Donna's daughter, she had

physical limitations, and it wasn't like her mother was dead or off on some old man's yacht, she was alive, but

choosing not to be there. When Tiffany was rebelling over Hyde and her conflicted feelings over her deceased

biological father they let her stay with Eric, and in Tiffanys choice-of-words, 'Sgt. Donna', it was a mistake. Not

only because she was away from Steven and therefore it took longer for them to heal, but also that Donna's

version of parenting was not about to win her any awards. Sure, the toughlove approach might have worked, if

you had a child who was addicted to drugs or who was a threat to society. But not with these wonderful kids.

Yeah, they weren't sunshine and roses all the time, but, that was normal and par for the course of being a

parent.

Was she making-up for Eric's softness that she felt she had to be the stricter parent?

Jackie turned off her computer and headed upstairs. She wanted her husband to come home, but instead of

going into the bathroom and turning the water on full hot blast, she was staring at her phone and knew that

something had to be done.

_Hello. This is Donna's voice mail leave a message at the beep._

"Donna, it's me, and I'm not asking, I'm telling you that I'm coming to Point Place tomorrow. And you are going

to listen to what I have to say."

Jackie didn't feel that a burden was lifted off her shoulders or that she even felt better, but she felt that she

couldn't leave it alone.

"You couldn't leave it alone." Although, he admired her, for waiting this long before trying to do something

about the situation.

"Steven!" Jackie must have jumped 10 feet into the air, "You scared me! When did you come home?"

"Five minutes ago."

Jackie fell into her husband's arms.

"Would you fill up the bathtub for me?"

"Sure, Doll."

"You aren't disappointed in me?" She whispered into his shoulder.

"Why would I be? Besides, I have tell you, Forman might have had his moments, but man, what happened to

Donna? Megan's a sweetheart, who doesn't deserve this bullshit. Go to Point Place tomorrow and try and knock

some sense into that 'old lady's' head." He replied matter-of-factly.

"Remember when everyone thought Donna and Eric were soulmates who completed each other?"

Jackie sat on the nicely made bed with its powder blue sheets and comforters (and too many decorative pillows

that the male half tossed on the floor) to take off her clothes as Hyde turned on the bath water, at the

temperature that she liked while stealing glances at his beautiful wife in her natural state.

"Not me."

Of course, there was a time when Steven Hyde hated Jackie Burkhart's guts. It was all relative to ones

point-of-view.

Jackie tried to block it out of her mind that Steven used to fancy Donna and even worse, that Lumberjack had

an affair with him while married to Eric the first time. Jackie wasn't even in any of their lives then. She was in

New York City trying to be a wife to a man that she really didn't love, but that did produce one of her beautiful

children that she really couldn't regret any of her life choices too much.

It brought her to here, with her Steven, where she belonged.

"You were too busy hiding behind walls and being Zen."

He held her hand, captivated by her very being. It wasn't just what was on the outside, but what made Jackie

beautiful was what was on the inside. She was the kind of mother who was involved in her kids school

activities, and was always there to put band-aids on boo-boos or to make trays of homeade cookies for when

their friends came over. (That was mostly for Tiffany and Hannah) She missed that part of her life before they all

started to grow up on her.

It was a shame that Donna wasn't beautiful where it really counted.

"I put in a few drops of your favorite bath oil."

Jackie kissed her husband on the cheek, "Thank you, Steven. Did anyone ever tell you that you are the world's

best husband?"

All that he could do was smile. He was grateful to have been given a second chance with Jackie.

The true love of his life.

It wasn't about Eric and Donna and Hyde and Jackie. Not anymore. Their drama was over. It was about the

children. Their children. Two of whom were about to be married. It was their turn to shine and Jackie wanted to

make sure that it happened that way.


	3. Hyde Felt Bad For the Kids

**Much thanks to nannygirl for being my BETA. **

**Chapter 3**

** Hyde Felt Bad (For the Kids)**

**Next day: early afternoon in Pennsylvania**

Hyde felt bad for the kids.

They weren't chronologically children anymore; yet, they always would be, for the good and bad of the term, to

their respective parents.

It was starting to rain, and he didn't want to get out of bed. He woke up early at 6:30 a.m. to drive Jackie and

Hunter to the airport and Steven Hyde was as much of a morning person as Forman could bench press his

weight. He and Jackie made a deal, and you really couldn't stop his dynamo of a wife, that whatever Jackie felt

that she needed to say to Donna, that it was only for the sake of Megan and Hunter.

That's it.

If Donna never wanted to re-establish a relationship with her daughter out of stubbornness and ego then it

was her problem. If it spilled over onto their son, then it would definitely be their problem.

He pulled the covers over his head and tried to go back to sleep. Hyde must have had a restful sleep going as

he didn't hear the front door being opened and someone entering the room in a familiar whirly fashion and

carrying the requisite shopping bags.

"Mother! Why are you still sleeping at NOON? I found that supposedly rare Led Zeppelin bootleg set in the

Village for Dad's birthday."

The decibel level of these women was astounding!

But he loved his family very much.

"Tiffany…."

"Shit…you didn't hear anything, Dad."

That would have been impossible.

She looked just like Jackie did at that age, even the once prominent Worthington chin turned more full and

round, that you couldn't even see any paternal evidence of Brad's existence on her face.

She was the one who fully resembled her mother.

"I didn't hear anything."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, while trying to hide the shopping bags behind her back.

"Where's Mom?"

"In Point Place and Hunter decided to go along and surprise Megan."

"Is Mom getting involved in THINGS?"

That was like asking if the Pope wore funny hats.

"Yeah."

"Why bother?" She asked as she sat on her mother's remembrance trunk at the foot of the bed.

Donna didn't seem worth all of this effort.

Yes, she was a human being and friend of her parents, and Tiffany felt bad for her when she was dealing with

breast cancer, but the cancer was probably due to all that self-inflicted negativity. Nothing good ever came from

that. She also didn't seem very supportive over the whole, Eric and Mark situation. Tiffany thought that Donna

was lousy with children, whether they be little children or grown adults. She didn't have the mothering gene,

and that was probably due to her own mother, Midge, skipping town and abandoning her and her Dad when

she was a teenager during the 'Me Decade' right after her first break-up with Eric, (because she couldn't

imagine a future with a decent guy like him!) she didn't have a mother to turn to, and Donna certainly couldn't

have run to Kitty during that time.

"For your brother and Megan."

"I hope that good old 'Sgt. Donna' doesn't ruin their wedding."

"Me neither."

When that spiritual person of the cloth – asked if anyone objected, Hyde was certain that Donna, not unlike a

selfish Kelso all those years ago (even if he was manipulated by Jackie's now dead ex-husband), would just

have to ruin the moment. He hoped that, that would not happen.

Those kids had every right to be happy.

"How can Eric stand being married to her? I never understood it."

"Love is blind."

It is what people used to say about Jackie and Hyde in the beginning of their relationship and look who was the

stronger and more in love with each other couple now.

"Is Mom coming home tonight?"

She assumed Hunter would be staying, especially if Donna pulled any power trips.

Neither her brother nor Megan should be going through any of it.

"Tomorrow, but, if there is too much drama I told her this morning, to just leave. Be a positive force for the

kids."

But if Donna pushed Jackie against the wall, she'd come out fighting, especially when the people she loved were

involved.

"I think I'm going to crash in my old room." She seemed to make a statement into a question.

"Tiffany, this is your house too. You don't have to explain."

"Love you, Dad." She gave him a hug, still trying to conceal her shopping bags.

"Love you, too."

They really had a come a long way from when she hated his guts and wanted her biological surname back

when she turned 18. Hyde learned, through Jackie, how the process of unconditional loving your kids worked

when Tiffany went through her teenage uprising. You didn't disown them, and even if they hurt you to your very

foundation, even if you wanted to add more walls around you, so you would in earnest deflect the pain, you still

LOVED them.

_No matter how they felt._

_Hyde wondered if Donna even really loved Megan. _He wasn't going to ask Forman that question, which would

most certainly have sent him into a tizzy. He wasn't going to ask Hunter and place him in an already

uncomfortable middle, and he and Jackie were on the same wavelength, so that's as far as it went.

Hyde thought that Donna had the best intentions for Megan when she was born. Her and Forman could give

her a good home, but Donna didn't smother like the well-meaning Eric. That might have been all fine and well

when she was a very little girl and in the recovery process, but not everything was sunshine and rainbows,

and couple that with the other extreme, where it was Donna who towed the harder line to protect her and no

one really thought of the girl who had her own independent thoughts of how she wanted to do things.

At least Forman understood this as she got older, but Donna?

The modern day feminist, who seemingly forgot that her daughter had a right to make her own choices? No. It

was a constant battle of wills. Hyde (and Jackie) always told Megan that she was welcome in their house; there

would be no drama here, unless you count Hyde looking at Jackie's credit card bills. ("I own a salon. Steven, it's

my money! What do you care if I buy a $40 lipstick?")

In a very short time Megan would be their daughter-in-law and she would be on paper, what she was always

to them all along— a part of the Hyde family.


	4. Donna Was a Failure

**Chapter 4**

** Donna Was a Failure (Some Kind of Monster)**

**Point Place, WI**

Donna Pinciotti-Forman thought that she was a colossal failure.

Did Jackie (with her son in tow) really feel the need to come to her house on a whim? But, yet there she was

sitting across from her in the kitchen, and pardon Donna if she didn't break out the General Foods

International Coffees, but this was not a moment of her life worthy of a celebration. Then the girl with all of

the promise to be a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist or Hell, even the writer of the Great American Novel

thought friends do visit friends?

_Yet, why did she just want to be alone?_

_What was it?_

"How are you, Donna? We haven't talked in a long time," It had to be at least four months. She and Hyde

were always in contact with Eric and Megan. "Is there something that you need to talk about? I'm here for

you." Jackie tried to hold Donna's hand, but she resisted.

Donna didn't even know what that something was, but she knew the real reason behind Jackie's visit.

"I know why you are here."

And she hoped that she really didn't sound bitchy, it wasn't her intent, but that's how she _always _came across.

"Why am I here?"

"You think I'm going to be a crazy lady and do something to interrupt _their _wedding."

"They have names."

"Megan and Hunter."

"Jesus Christ! Donna, this should be a wonderful time for both of our families. I know you and Megan have -"

"Please don't. Please don't come into MY house and act like you know everything that there is to know."

She didn't even know.

How could Jackie possibly fucking know?

"Megan and Hunter are great people. I think it is sad that you are willing to throw your own daughter

away, and over what?" Jackie stood up and poured herself a cup of coffee. "I just don't understand.

Whatever it is, whatever you feel that you cannot share with another soul, I just don't want it to affect our

children."

"There it is." Donna sighed

"What?" Jackie really wanted to understand.

It was easy to shout at the top of your lungs and demand answers, but best friends were supposed to be

there for each other.

No matter what the circumstances.

It was part of the Girl Code.

"I'm Eric's wife. I'm Megan's mother, or in her case, I'm just some kind of monster, I'm friends with you and

Hyde, _when do I get to be Just Donna?"_

"That's insane."

What she really wanted to say was how incredibly selfish she was. No one was denying Donna the chance

to be anything she wanted to be except for herself.

"Thank you for that, Jackie. I know that I _can't legally_ _stop_ your son from being with his fiancée, but I can tell

you to go home, or go to Eric's office and coddle him – _I can, however, tell you_ to leave me the Hell alone."

Donna sighed and walked out of the kitchen to go upstairs for some much needed privacy. The walls started

to close in on her and she had to get out that suffocating room.

"What in God's name was that?" Jackie said to the empty air, deciding if she should visit Eric or not. She was

certain that Hunter and Megan were doing what people in love do and she didn't want to disturb them.

She really wanted those kids to make it.

No drama, no angst concerning their love for each other.

Jackie poured the rest of the coffee from the chipped on the handle University of Wisconsin mug down the

drain and placed it in the sink and proceeded to take out her pink limited edition Hello Kitty cell phone.

("Jackie, you are over 50 for crying out loud!"

"But Steven, it's pretty and sparkly, like ME!")

"I'm sorry," Eric put his wedding (the 2nd wedding, the one that was the promise of starting over together)

picture face down, "I don't know what Donna's problem is."

But Eric wasn't blind, and he could see cracks in the foundation even before they adopted Megan.

They never were Red and Kitty. His father might have been gruff, but he loved his mother very much, and

she was never afraid to stand-up to him if need be. If a father and son forget whose birthday it was and

bought cheap-o crap from the gas station, she was going to let you know all about it!

Eric missed his parents a great deal. He wondered what Red would have thought about the kind of man he

grew up to be? Eric was ashamed that his parents saw him as a drug addict. It always played on his mind.

Sure, they saw him in recovery, saw he and Hyde become friends again, and their little Grandbaby, but it

wasn't the same. He felt like he let Red and Kitty down. But, Eric, knew that despite his flaws that he was a

good father to Megan. Never mind the whole Mark situation where Eric thought that he was the worst father

in mankind.

"It's not your fault. If Donna needs her space, then I think we should give it to her. Let her drama be her

own internal drama. The kids don't need that."

_And quite frankly, I don't, either._ Jackie thought.

"Are you going back home? The least I can do is buy Megan, you, and my future

son-in-law dinner tonight."

It would be nice to actually go out at night, for a change. Instead of a stale dinner, if there even was one,

and a more stale attempt at conversation, if there was even that.

He never knew anymore.

"I appreciate it, Eric. But, I think I'm going to go home and be with Steven. If Hunter and Megan don't come

back upstairs – I don't want to interrupt them, even if they are just talking. I'll leave him a note and his

return plane ticket on your desk. Megan is still supposed to come to Pennsylvania for our shopping trip on

Saturday. I'm not much up for wedding planning today. I'll get back to you about the invitations and other

details. Bye, Eric."

"Bye, Jackie, thanks for calling."

Eric Forman felt like he could cry the proverbial river for the both of them.

How in the world would he know what was going on with Donna?

_He was only her beleaguered husband._


	5. Hunter Felt Horrible

**Chapter 5**

** Hunter Felt Horrible **

**Point Place, WI**

**Later that evening**

Hunter Hyde felt horrible.

It should have been the weight of a thousand boulders lifted off one's weak shoulders, but instead it felt like

the load was added on, it wasn't a relief, not by a long shot. Megan didn't want to talk, her hearing aid was

placed in a crystal "M" tray, a gift from her father from some holiday long past, and her glasses were next to

that. She just wanted to hold Hunter and fall asleep in his arms. It was Eric who waited for a respectable

amount of time and asked them if they wanted to go out and have dinner; Hunter would have gone if Megan

wanted to.

She just wanted to forget all that was going on and hold her fiancée. Eric brought down some soda and

sandwiches, but she only drank half of the soda and didn't touch her sandwich. Hunter couldn't eat; not when

the person he loved most didn't have an appetite. He didn't know if he wanted to go back home, as he didn't

want them to wind up yet another long-distance relationship casualty.

Megan put her hand up and put it on his face. She wouldn't hear his words, only muffled sounds, so he knew

that his touch would be enough.

He kissed her hand.

His father always told him to treat a lady with respect or he would kick his ass into the next solar system.

Megan needed to feel his tender lips on hers.

She went through her insecurity phase of what-could-a-healthy-and-handsome-boy-possibly see-in-the-

girl-in-wheelchair many years ago, and now she was confident in her own skin. Megan always would wish that

she didn't have her health limitations, but the lack of being able to walk, was not about to stop her from living

her life.

"I love you." Hunter said and since they were in the dark, he traced an outline of a Valentine's heart on her

chest.

She kissed his fingers. She was feeling kind-of hungry, but that ham and cheese (on seedless rye) was out on

her end table for far too long. Megan reached for her hearing aid.

"Hunter, would you find something in the kitchen for us to snack on? There's nothing good down here."

"Of course, honey."

What a sweet man he was.

Megan Forman couldn't wait to be Megan Hyde and even though she loved her father very much, there would be

no hyphenation for her where her last name was concerned.

_There was no reason to be a Forman anymore._

Hunter was afraid of what he might find when he walked up stairs and into the kitchen. He wasn't in the mood

for Donna, and how Eric explained what happened when his mother tried to talk to her, like a best friend would,

he was glad that he was downstairs with Megan and not a witness to it.

He almost dropped the cheese slices when the kitchen door swung open, and then felt silly when it turned out

to be only Eric.

"It's _only me_."

"Oh. Megan's hungry so I-"

"There's no need to explain, Hunter, help yourself. You've been in this house a million times, you never have to

ask."

Eric didn't know if he should have the Double Stuff Oreos or plain, old, boring, graham crackers.

"Is there any strawberry jam?"

"On the bottom shelf. How are you?"

"Okay."

"Are you still working at the bakery?"

"Yeah." But it really wasn't Hunter's dream to sculpt figures out of modeling chocolate to put on overpriced cakes

so all of their upper class ritzy neighbors could compete and outdo each other as if any of it really mattered.

"How is art school going?"

Eric fumbled with the box of graham crackers.

"Fine."

It wasn't really that way, but _why bother_ Eric with his thoughts?

"You and Megan are going to have a wonderful wedding. I'm glad that you are the man that I'm going to "give

her" to."

Eric wanted to talk, when all Hunter wanted to was to finish making him and Megan something to eat, but

he was raised to be polite and Eric was a good man, so the only thing he could do was be gracious.

"Thank you."

"I'll take some of that strawberry jam…"

"Sure."

Eric took a new butter knife out of the drawer. It would be tempting to leave all of the dishes in the sink for

Donna to wash, but he didn't want to hear her bitch and moan. He already left 40 minutes early for work

everyday, which really was embarrassing on the days when he didn't have to get gas for the car or stop for a

coffee and doughnut.

Who was Eric kidding? Donna wouldn't have washed the dishes. She either would have crammed them in the

dishwasher (and not have started it) or she would have thrown them out the window and he would have found

everything in the backyard when he got home from another boring, yet exhausting, day.

Megan and Hunter deserved better than this fucking mediocrity.

"You're a good 'kid', Hunter."

"Thank you, Eric. I wonder if Mom made it back home okay?"

"I'm sure that she did."

Eric wondered if Mark was still up? Would he want to talk on the phone? Play Mafia Wars on Facebook? No. He

better just stick to the plan of graham crackers with strawberry jam as he watched sitcoms from his youth on

TV Land on the living room television.

Sometimes Eric did wonder what his life would have been like, if he realized Jackie was the better woman all

those years ago, instead of Donna?

Hindsight was always 20/20 and Jackie was just a smidgen younger than he and his friends, not really part of

the gang at first, and was a general annoying busy-body. Everything happens for a reason or so the collective

"they" always said.

He might have thought she was "evil", but she certainly was attractive, Jackie always scored major points with

Eric when she went head-to-head with his slutty sister Laurie over the dense Kelso. Jackie also loved her

children and husband in ways that Donna never did with Megan and him.

Hyde was the luckiest bastard on the planet.


	6. Jackie & Megan's Wedding Dress Date

**Chapter 6**

**Jackie & Megan's Wedding Dress Date**

**Pennsylvania  
**

Jackie thought it was adorable, but refrained from gushing and pinching Hunter's cheeks that he wanted to

surprise Megan with a bridal shower, even though it was something that even in this modern day and age that

the men didn't usually plan or attend. Hunter was definitely one-of-a-kind. He didn't give his mother a chance to

actually prepare the festivities. This came about because Megan used 2 weeks of the 6 weeks vacation that she

had built up because she needed a break from seeing her mother's face. Jackie took Megan to a bridal shop not

far from her salon and was leaving a message for Hannah on her cell.

"I really don't like how you call and leave messages for me or your father at late hours so we don't have the

opportunity to talk to you. Maybe, you'd actually see us if the money stopped coming in. I'm not happy with you,

Hannah, but I love you just the same. Sorry about that, Megan."

Jackie tossed her phone into her Blue Jean color Hermes (Hyde could never know how much this bag really cost)

Birkin with the palladium hardware.

"It's okay. If it makes you feel better, Hannah and I kind-of drifted apart."

Jackie chose to focus on Hunter and Megan's wedding and smiled. "What kind of dress would you like?"

"Nothing too poufy," Jackie wondered when those traditional wedding dresses of her youth were going to make

a comeback? "Any suggestions?"

Megan couldn't tell if the standoffish associates were giving the "Oh my God, did you see the girl in the

wheelchair?" looks or if they were trying to eye the future sale. An older distinguished man of about 70 came

out of the back room with his jacket off and a tape measure around his neck.

"Hello, Jackie."

"Hi, Mr. Sullivan…me and my future daughter-in-law, Megan, are here to buy a wedding dress."

It didn't take long for one of those wafer thin blonde automatons to come over and offer the assistance that

they should've done five minutes ago.

Megan did not mention Donna once since she arrived in Pennsylvania. Eric offered to take some time off work to

accompany Megan and visit the Hyde's, but Megan said it _wasn't necessary._

"I like the dress with the spaghetti straps." Jackie had a nice white chiffon shawl that she could give Megan for

her wedding shower present. It would go very nicely with the knee-length sparkling silvery white dress with the

spaghetti straps that criss-crossed in the back. She would try it on, and hopefully need the least amount of help,

and then the in-house tailor's could make the proper alterations.

"Me too."

Jackie was very easy-going which Megan appreciated.

"Did you really want to split up Hannah and Hunter and give one of the babies to Donna and Dad?" Megan

asked when the salesgirl went to get some accessories for Megan to look at.

No more 'Mom'?

The children knew much of what happened to them due some of their lives being an open book and Hunter and

Megan reading her one of her diaries and if she recalled correctly, they had a big fight over Eric's cocaine use

and leaving Hyde for dead in what felt like a million years ago.

She wasn't aware that they also knew of _'The Good Lie'._

"Yeah."

"That was very big of you, Jackie. I'm glad you didn't. Geez, what if you gave up Hunter? Then he'd have been

my brother!" Megan laughed

Hearing the next generation mention your schemes, no matter how well-intended, certainly put it all into a

proper perspective. That and Jackie's hormones were all over the map if she thought for one second to give Eric

and Donna, despite them not being able to have children of their own, one of the twins was even a remotely

good idea.

"It wasn't one of my better ideas."

"Your heart was in the right place."

"Don't buy any jewelry," Jackie whispered, "We'll go through my stash at home."

Which had a different connotation than when Hyde said the word.

"Do you have any cameos?"

"I might."

She could buy a nice black silk ribbon and make a choker necklace. Lord knows when she'd be able to do this for

Tiffany and Hannah was a lost cause at this point.

"Are you going to make Hunter wear a tie?"

"Not if he doesn't want to."

"I think he looks nice in a tie."

"He didn't tell me what he was wearing, but I think he wants to raid Steven's closet."

"Hunter looks good in vintage clothes…he always had that style about him." Megan's face lit up.

"Yes, he has."

"I suppose I have to try this dress on…"

She hated trying casual everyday clothes on, let alone fancy formal wear.

"Do you want me to go in the dressing room with you, Megan?" Jackie asked

"No, but you can wait outside the room."

"Sure."

Megan couldn't wait to get into the changing room, at least it was large enough, and handicapped accessible.

She took out her own cell phone to text her fiancée. Hunter said he was going to spend the day painting,

because he really didn't want to go out to try on shoes for the wedding.

**Megan: Can't talk. In changing room. **

**Hunter: I miss you.**

**Megan: I miss you more.**

**Hunter: I love you more.**

**Megan: When am I going to have a visit from Captain Hook?**

**Hunter: I'll have Dad take Mom out for dinner. **

**Megan: Tiffany isn't coming over?**

**Hunter: Not that I know of.**

"Is everything all right in there?" Jackie asked, it was too quiet and wondered if Megan was having trouble

getting into the dress.

"Yeah. Give me a few minutes, Jackie." Megan smiled.

**Megan: I have to try on my dress.**

**Hunter: I'm sure it's beautiful.**

**Megan: Love you infinity.**

**Author's Note: Doug, I hope this chapter was worth the wait for you.  
**


End file.
